Lighting fixture



1948- R. s. MAURETTE LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Sept. '7, 1946 321w $1] aurgfl' g INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 24. 1948 Rene G. Maurette, Beverly, Mass, assignor to Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., Salem.- Mass,

a corporation of Massachusetts Application september '1, 194e, Serial Nat 95 ,411 J This invention relates to devices for attaching fixtures to their supporting. surfaces and particularly to that type of attachment inwhic'h the fixture is supported in spaced relation to its supporting surfaceand commonly known as the canopy type of installation.

In this type of fixture installation it is particularly desirable to very rigidly anchor the spacing elements to the attaching surface because it is these spacing elements, or stems as they are commonly known, that not only support the weight of the fixture but also determine its lateral stability.

It is an object. of the invention to provide a single rigid supporting member directly attachable to a supporting surface and having means to rigidly anchor "depending fixture holding stems.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for greatly facilitating the installation of fixtures of the type indicated.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a canopy type of fixture installation in which the supporting stem members may be assembled to and locked in position upon the fixture before it is lifted to its final position on its attaching surface thus reducing the labor of installationj 4 1 Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and will be particularly pointed out in the claim.

The invention consists of a highly novel and efficient means for securing a fixture in a hanging or spaced relation to its supporting surf-ace. The fixture to be hung is provided with a plurality of supporting stem members which are secured at one end to the fixture chassis in a conventional manner and extend upward therefrom. The upper ends of the stems are each provided with threads and a pair of nuts.

A novel means is provided for anchoring the upper ends of the stems, which takes the form of a supporting strap of rigid metal secured to the supporting surface and provided with special means for instantly interengaging with the nuts on the ends of the stems. To lock the fixture in place it is necessary only to tighten the nuts. To interengage the stems with the support memher the fixture and its stems are lifted to the required height and shifted laterally in a manner to be described.

To provide a clear understanding of the invention a preferred embodiment will be described and illustrated in the drawings in which:

1 Claim. (01. 248-343) v 2 H ,igure 1 is aperspective view of a fixture em bodying, the invention. v p

Figure 2 is across section on line 2 2 Figure 1; it

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the fixture supporting strap. v

In the form .of the invention shown a fluorescent: fixture l is supported by a p-airof'stem members 2. Any desiredtype of fixturei however may be used. .The' stems .2 are secured tothe fixture in thefcon'ventional or many desired manner and at a distance apart predetermined by thedimen; sions of the suppor-ting'surfa'ce attaching'me'ans;

Referring to Figure? it will b'e noted that the fixture is mounted upon itssupporting surface 3 at'a conventional outlet box l havin'g thepower supply wires 5a: therein. 'The fixture may how ever be attached at any'suitablelocation Where power. supply wires are available. When an out letbox is available it m'ay be. provided with a threaded nipple 5 which serves as a securing means for a supporting strap '6. The strap desire ably is provided with an "aperture or slot 1 through which the threaded end of the nipple 5 projects. ,A nut 8, on the endof the nipple below the strap' secures it against the 'attachingsurface3l'" The strapii is of heavy metal to insurerigidi ty and is relatively narrow so that it does not cover the whole area of the outlet box 4 thus to provide ior threading the wires 5. Near its ends the strap is bent into a U-shape to form depending hanger sections 9. One side wall and the bottom of the sections 9 are perforated to form a continuous slot Ill. The vertical portion ll of the slot is situated on the same side of each hanger section. For example, as shown in the drawings the portion H of the slot is formed in the right hand Wall of each hanger section and it is of sufficient size to permit the passage of nuts [2 upon the threaded upper ends of the stems 2.

The portion l3 of the slots l0 formed in the bottom of the hanger sections is narrower than the portion H and just wide enough to permit the stems to enter.

The fiat end portions M of the strap are provided with apertures [5 through which screws I6 may be passed and secured in the attaching surface 3. BY thus securing the ends of the strap, maximum rigidity is obtained. It may be found also in certain locations that the use of the screws for attaching purposes may become of maximum importance if it is not possible or convenient to fasten the strap at its central aperture 1.

For maximum rigidity however all three securing points should be employed.

A desirable procedure for installing the fixture is as follows. The fixture I is first completely assembled before it is raised into hangin posi'tion and its supporting stems 2 are secured therein in the conventional or in any desired manner and spaced apart the distance between the centers of the hanger portions of the strap 6. The assembling operation up to this point may easily and conveniently be performed upon a bench or other suitable support thus reducing the labor required to a minimum. At this timealso the wires face in the manner above described after which the fixture and its stems are lifted to a position with stems and the nuts l2 adjacent tothe portion ll of aperture 10 shown in dotted lines in Figur 2. The fixture and stems are then moved bodily laterally to cause the stems to enter the apertures 10 in the strap with the nuts l2 resting upon the bottom portions I! of the hanger sections at which time the weight of the fixture is borne entirely by the strap and the operator installing the fixture is free to perform further operations to complete the installation.

To lock the fixtur rigidly to the strap, nuts I9 are provided below the bottom face of the portions l8 of the strap. The nuts iii are tightened against the strap thus locking the fixture in position. It will be noted that the stems can be inserted in position and removed without removing the nuts from the stems. The whole installation operation requires a minimum of time and effort and when completed efiects an extremely safe and rigid mounting for the fixture,

Connection between the Wires x and. I! are made in the usual manner and a decorative canopy member 20 which has previously been placed upon the stems 2 is moved up into position covering the strap 2. The canopy may be held in place in any desired manner. However, a neat and eflicient manner of holding the canopy is shown in which the nipple 5 is provided with a cap 2| which in turn has a threaded aperture to receive a screw 22. The screw is passed through '6 to present shoulders 23 which act to engage the [1 for energizing the fixture are threaded through one or both of-the hollow stems.

The strap 6 is secured to the supportingsm nuts l2 thus preventing the stems 2 from becoming disengaged from the strap until the stems are lifted slightly to permit the nuts to pas through the openings ll. Thus the shoulders 23 act as a safety when assembling or disassembling the fixw re from its support.

What I claim is:

A support adapted for application to an attaching surface comprising a one piece continuous metallic strap being flat for the major portion of its length and having a pair of U-shaped portions extending down from its fiat portion adjacent the ends thereof, an enlarged aperture in corresponding side walls of said U-shaped sections, relatively narrow apertures in the bottom wall of the U-shaped portions connecting with the other apertures, a pair of fixture stem members having at least one nut at their upper end and secured in a fixture at their other ends, wherebyby lateral movement of the fixture while in an elevated position both stems are inserted in the support laterally and simultaneously, additional nuts on said stems engaging the bottom face of said U-shaped portions and coacting with the other nuts tosecure the fixture to the support to secure it to the attaching surface.

' RENE G. MAURETTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

